MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's volleyball announced the dates and an itinerary for their upcoming foreign tour to Canada in mid-June. The 12-day tour is the first foreign tour in Saint Mary's volleyball history.
Saint Mary's will leave the Bay Area on Tuesday, June 13 and fly to Richmond, British Columbia, where they will spend the duration of their trip. The Gaels will spend time training and practicing at the Richmond Olympic Oval, which was originally constructed for the 2010 Winter Olympics and is one of the premier facilities in the area.
"It's going to be an amazing experience," assistant coach
Albert Ahedo said. "I've personally never been to Canada and I know a number of our student-athletes haven't either and so I'm excited to be in their national team training facility. I know the girls are stoked to get that experience to play in that in that gym and train in that facility."
Three exhibitions are scheduled for the Gaels while in Richmond against Volleyball Canada's NextGen team, which is viewed as an entry point for athletes wanting to play for Canada's national team. Comprised mostly of recent college graduates, the NextGen team will play in a series of international competitions later in the summer, with a select number of athletes eventually chosen to play for Canada's national team.
Exhibitions against Volleyball Canada's NextGen team are scheduled for June 16, 21, and 23.
"It's one thing to be able to practice but we're able to go play a really good team," explained head coach
Rob Browning. "It'll be a really good challenge. It will really challenge us and expose us which will give us the opportunity to get a lot better.
"We can't have any practices over the summer so we get about three weeks with them, with practices and competition. The competition part is even more important. It's really a huge opportunity for us."
The journey north of the border ends on June 24 when the team returns to the Bay Area, one day after their final exhibition match. While abroad, the Gaels will also have the chance to sightsee and enjoy the surrounding cities, including Vancouver.
Canada has been the home country for a number of Gaels, most recently with Jadyn van Santen in 2019. Sarah Chase '19 is also from British Columbia, and won the U18 Canadian National Championship with the BCO Volleyball Club before calling Moraga home for four seasons. On the beach volleyball side at Saint Mary's, current Gael Sarah Incitti is from Ontario.
Stay tuned to SMCGaels.com and Saint Mary's volleyball social media channels for daily content about their 2023 Foreign Tour.
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